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Thursday, October 17, 2013

Public Relations and Studying Abroad

As a
public relations major, studying abroad may not seem like an option for you.
Most locations and programs do not offer PR courses, and only few offer
internships. I am here to present my study abroad advising services and present
some hidden treasures for public relations majors.

1. The
School of Media and Communication’s International Internship Programs:The Barcelona
and Hong Kong programs both offer public relations courses as well as an
internship in any field desired. All students are required to take
Intercultural Communication in the Workplace: STRC 3670. The other course is
cross-listed with multiple other majors but there are two strategic
communication courses: STRC 3385 or 3585
- Internship in Public Communication. Both programs are a total of 10 weeks,
with the first two weeks on campus to take the Intercultural Communication course.
Past students have told us that this course put them a step ahead of other
students interning abroad.

2. As
for a semester abroad, SMC’s London program has three strategic communication
courses offered during the semester including an optional internship. The
courses include: STRC 3323: Political Communication, STRC 3585 – Internship in
Public Relations, or STRC 3685 – Internship in Organizational Leadership. You
would only be able to take two courses directly through strategic
communication, but any time you study abroad the Global/World Society GenEd is
automatically fulfilled. The rest of the credits would be taken as electives
offered through SMC.

The
question that most students have about studying abroad is how they are going to
pay for it. These are the necessary steps to take in order to receive the most
financial assistance:

1. The
first step would be to make an appointment with the financial aid office. If
you plan on going for a semester, your financial aid package may increase
because the cost of living is typically higher when studying abroad.

2. File
your FAFSA within the first few days of it opening. This is how you can
receive the most aid possible. It is not necessary to have your taxes filed
beforehand; you may go back and fill it in later.

3. APPLY
FOR ALL SMC SCHOLARSHIPS. All tuition scholarships apply when you are abroad
for a semester; however, in the summer this is more difficult. The scholarships
that are due in February are the ones than can be applied for the summer, and
there are less available. This makes the summer more difficult to pay for but
not impossible.

4. APPLY
FOR SCHOLARSHIPS THROUGH THE EDUCATION ABROAD OFFICE. There are hundreds of
thousands of dollars offered in scholarships through this office. The
requirements are broken by location typically, which makes it easier to choose
which ones to apply to.

5. If
nothing else, apply for loans. Most students are eligible for the Parent Plus
loan, which is cosigned by your parents. Students sometimes take out private
loans, but you need to be sure to look for low interest rates.

Preparing
for a study abroad experience is a lot of work; however, when planned properly
the process will be less stressful. As much work that you put in as a student,
the study abroad advisers will put in as well. We have amazing opportunities to
connect nationally and internationally through Temple. The first step is
deciding to take the leap.